


thirty-four

by arcanesupernova



Series: Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [13]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Birthdays, F/M, angsty? I guess?, fluffy af, forgotten birthdays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24909631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanesupernova/pseuds/arcanesupernova
Summary: Charlotte doesn't tell people about her birthday, but that doesn't mean someone won't find out.
Relationships: Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)
Series: Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099445
Comments: 9
Kudos: 30





	thirty-four

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this all on my phone so forgive any typos. I'll probably go back and fix them later.

Thirty-four. 

Charlotte was turning thirty-four and not a soul knew. Well, that was a lie. She knew. Sam knew. Mr. Davidson technically knew but she never reminded anyone. Birthdays were silly, like Sam always said. She always made an effort for his, despite his lack of interest, but her birthday was always just regarded as another day. 

She went into the office, nodding hellos to her coworkers, taking immediate notice to Ted's absence. She had just seen him the previous night and he had even told her he'd see her tomorrow. She shook her head, assuming he was caught in traffic or had overslept, she had kept him up quite late last night. Blushing at the memory, she sat down and got to work or at least tried to. Every time the door creaked open, Charlotte's head shot up, hoping to see him saunter in only to be disappointed each time. Finally, after Ted was over an hour and a half late, she made her way to Melissa's desk. 

"Hey, Melissa. Good morning," she started, trying to keep her tone light. "Have you seen Ted today? I needed to ask him about an expense report and-" 

"Oh, Ted is out of the office today," Melissa bristled, not even looking up from her computer. "He'll be in tomorrow but if you have a question for him, I'd be happy to relay it for you." 

"N-No, that's alright," Charlotte told her, dejected. "I just hadn't realized-" 

"Mr. Davidson sent him out for the day. Some big contract to-do. Said it was very important." 

"Oh, I see," she nodded, tapping the desk gently as she pushed away, "Well, thank you Melissa." 

"Any time, Charlotte."

Charlotte went back to her desk, fiddling with her hem to avoid thinking about her disappointment. Ted wasn't her boyfriend, nor was he beholden to her in any other way. He probably just forgot to mention it.

At lunch, Paul brought in a large cake and for a moment, excitement coursed through Charlotte. She hadn't told anyone but perhaps by divine intervention, someone had found out about her birthday and planned something for her. Reality crushed her again when Melissa came in, ushering Paul and the cake out in hushed tones, reprimanding him for bringing sweets in while she was on a diet. Paul looked like he wanted to argue, but a sharp look from Melissa shut him up and he left the office. Melissa caught Charlotte's eye and smiled before following him out. 

The relief Charlotte felt at the end of the day was heavy, marred by the desk that stayed empty the entire day. She wanted to text him. To at least see how his day had gone but every message she typed out came off sad and pathetic. She went home to an empty house, tossing her coat on the back of the couch with a sigh as she fought back tears. 

Her phone buzzed and Sam's picture appeared on the screen. She answered quickly, hoping beyond hope that he'd planned to take her out to dinner but reality crushed her again as he informed her he wouldn't be home tonight. She asked him if he was forgetting anything, if there was anything he wanted to tell her but he brushed her off saying, "If it was important, I'd remember," and hung up.

Charlotte slumped into the couch, and put her face in her hands as her body wracked with sobs. It was her fault for not telling anyone, she had no right to expect them to be mind readers but the ache of being forgotten hurt worse than before. Perhaps it was Sam, but perhaps it was also the absence of Ted, a thought she'd never expected to cross her mind. She went into the kitchen and pulled out an unopened bottle of vodka, pouring herself as her phone rang again. This time it was Ted and she nearly dropped the bottle in her hurry to answer. 

"Ted?" she asked desperately into the phone. 

"Hey, Charlotte," he replied, and she could hear the smile on his face. "You busy tonight? I've had one hell of a day-" 

"I'll be over in fifteen," she interrupted. 

"Make it thirty and Char? Could you wear that dress I like?" 

"Oh, Teddy, of course." 

They said their goodbyes and Charlotte went to get ready. She pulled out a long blue dress, the one she had been wearing the first night he took her home. He told her he loved the way she looked in that dress and that was enough to erase all of the heartache she'd endured that night after being stood up by Sam. She saw a different side of Ted that night, a kind, caring and attentive side that she was sure no one had ever seen before. The suave ladykiller act he put on was gone, instead replaced by a nervous wreck as she climbed into his car.

Charlotte knocked on the door, fighting back tears as she prepared to launch into how horrible a day she'd had when it wasn't Ted who answered the door, but Melissa. 

"O-oh, I'm sorry--I didn't--I thought--I'll just be going--" 

"No, Charlotte, it's okay, come in," Melissa assured her, taking her hand and leading her into the dark apartment.

To say she was confused was an understatement but before she could ask where Ted was, the lights flashed on a large shout of surprise startled her. The apartment had been decorated ceiling to floor in pink and purple party decorations, with Ted, Paul and Bill at the center, holding their arms up with flourish as they smiled at her.

"Happy birthday, Charlotte," her coworkers announced in unison. 

"O-oh, oh no-" Charlotte stammered, stumbling back as she fought back tears. 

"Charlotte, are you okay?" Ted asked, moving around the couch and approaching her.

"I just, I haven't, I don't like to-- I'm not used to having my birthday celebrated," she explained, much to Ted's chagrin. 

"Well, yeah Charlotte. I had to find out from Melissa that you had a birthday coming up. How are we supposed to celebrate if you don't tell us?" Ted asked her, running his hands through his hair nervously.

"No, I know," she admitted, wiping tears away as she looked around the room at all her coworkers. "Sam always says-" 

"Fuck Sam," Ted cut her off, holding a finger up to her lips. "I don't give a shit what Sam thinks about birthdays, you're an incredible person and your birth deserves to be celebrated."

"Oh, don't be silly, Teddy," Charlotte told him, despite the large grin spreading over her face. "I'm nothing special."

Ted didn't argue, but shook his head slowly as he held her gaze. Charlotte bit her lip, resisting the urge to kiss him on the spot and outing their affair to the entire office. She opted instead to clear her throat and step away from Ted, going over to see Bill and Paul.

"This was all Ted's idea," Paul told her, holding out the cake he had at lunch today and she could see now that it was light pink, decorated with delicate blue and purple flowers around the border with a large "Happy Birthday" scrawled in a darker shade of pink in the middle. "I was in charge of getting the cake, I hope you like it." 

"I do, Paul, very much. Thank you," she told him, pulling him into a hug.

"You could've just told us about your birthday, you know. We've been working together for over two years, we were all a little curious," Bill told her, giving her a stern look, "Ted was the one who asked Melissa to look in your personnel file-" 

"Hey, Bill, shut up," Ted interrupted through gritted teeth. Charlotte spun around to face him, doing her best to look angry about the invasion despite the tears streaking down her cheeks.

"You went through my file?" she asked, amazement leaking out where she was trying to project anger.

"I looked in your file," Melissa interjected, "but Charlotte, you have to understand, you've done so much for us- It only seemed fair to do something for you." 

Charlotte considered a moment and nodded, pulling Melissa into a hug as the tears started falling again. "I don't like to celebrate my birthday," she explained thickly, "Getting my hopes up only ends with being disappointed. Sam doesn't--" 

"No, no, no, no, Charlotte, we have a strict no scumbag rule at this party," Ted reminded her, "We're here to celebrate you and that's what we're going to do." 

And so they did. The five of them sat around the whole night, eating cake, drinking beer and talking about all of the reasons they loved having Charlotte in their lives. Ted kept his light, going with the humorous approach of telling her it was nice to have something to look at in the office, but the look in his eyes told her it went far deeper than that.

Paul was the first to leave when his phone started ringing. It was the girl from the coffee shop that he'd been pining for and had finally plucked up the courage to ask out. After Paul went Bill, citing his daughter expecting him home soon. Finally, Melissa asked her to walk her out. 

"He really seems to care about you," she remarked as they approached her car.

"Oh, Ted? We're just friends," Charlotte assured her, her cheeks growing red. 

"Mhm, I'm Ted's friend too and I don't seem to recall him doing anything like this for my birthday," Melissa said coyly, clicking the button to unlock her car. "I'll say it again, he really seems to care about you." 

"He does, doesn't he?" 

Melissa didn't say anything else, hugging Charlotte one last time before climbing into her car. Charlotte stayed in the parking lot and watched her go, playing with her hem. Once Melissa's car disappeared into the sea of traffic, Charlotte went back to Ted's apartment, surprised to find him already cleaning up. 

"Thank you, Ted," she told him softly, shutting the door behind her. "Normally I would be very upset about the invasion of privacy but this was a good party so I suppose I can forgive it."

"I just didn't want to see you so depressed again," he remarked, not looking up from the trash bag he was dumping the uneaten cake in. 

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I seem to remember this time last year, you were uncharacteristically sad. You've always got an air of the morose but this was different, you seemed dejected. And moreover, you wouldn't tell me what was wrong so I asked Melissa to do a little digging."

"Oh, Teddy," Charlotte cooed, moving over to take his face in her hand, "You didn't have to worry about it. I get over it."

"I still didn't like seeing you like that so this year I decided to do something about it."

"Well, thank you." 

"You don't have to thank me, it was my pleasure."

Charlotte considered him a moment before giving in and pulling him into a kiss. He returned it eagerly, dropping the bag to embrace her fully. 

"You look beautiful, by the way," he told her when their lips broke apart. "I really do love the way you look in that dress."

"Ted, would it-- I mean, would it be out of line if- Teddy, would it be wrong if I said I loved you?" 

It was Ted's turn to have tears welling in his eyes, taking her face in his hands, "Of course not, Charlotte. In fact, that would work quite nicely with what I have to say to you." 

"Teddy, I love you," she murmured. It was a thought that danced around in the back of her mind every time she saw him but it wasn't until now that she knew it was true."

"Oh, Char, I love you too." 


End file.
